Paul moves Republicans on race

It's far too early to handicap Rand Paul's odds for running away with the GOP nomination. But his reaction to the events unfolding in Ferguson, Mo., shows that Kentucky's junior senator is rapidly becoming one of the Republican Party's most important voices.

For too long, the GOP has been perceived as disinterested in the plight of African Americans. Every four years, Republican presidential candidates register in the single digits among black voters, while conservative congressional candidates do no better. Republicans get hammered, in part, because of ideological differences with a demographic that is more supportive of an activist government than the GOP base. But Republicans have also managed to come off looking insensitive to people of color even when debates had nothing to do with the size of government.

Conservative voices reflexively rushed to the defense of a troubled, self-appointed neighborhood watchman after he provoked a showdown with a black teenager armed with little more than Skittles. Conservatives were too busy rushing to George Zimmerman's defense to understand why Trayvon Martin's killing was so frightening to parents in that community. At the time, I talked about my party's troubling blind spot on race -- even when that debate had nothing to do with ideology.

My defense of Trayvon Martin caused a backlash among conservative voices online and on the airwaves. In fact, I couldn't find one Republican on the national stage to voice their concern over that tragedy. But after this week's chilling events in Ferguson, Sen. Paul has dared to speak out against the racial injustice that is all too obvious to members of the African American community.

In a Time Magazine op-ed, Sen. Paul writes that “anyone who thinks that race does not still, even if inadvertently, skew the application of criminal justice in this country is just not paying close enough attention. Our prisons are full of black and brown men and women who are serving inappropriately long and harsh sentences for non-violent mistakes in their youth.”

I must say that it was nice to see a Republican speak as passionately for the property rights of a black homeowner in Middle America as many did for a racist rancher who wanted to get a free ride off of taxpayers. I'm sure there will be a backlash against the Kentucky senator, but Sen. Paul is charting the right course. He is seeking common ground where possible and siding with people of color in their struggle against a growing police state.

We don't know if Sen. Paul will even run for president next year, but it seems clear that he is determined to change the Republican Party for the better.